meet tomi! 🐯

Hello patrons!

Something super exciting that has been in the works since January...

I made a plush keychain!!! Meet Tomi tiger 🧡

Tigers hold a special place in my heart because I was born in the year of the Tiger and when I was little, my uncle in Canada shared the same zodiac. So the family would call us "Big Tiger" and "Little Tiger". The more I drew this character, I had to make him my first plushie product!

♢ The Process ♢

The making of Tomi took a lot of back and forth communication between me and the manufacturer. We went through 3 different prototypes and I was limited to a certain amount of revisions. The hardest part to communicate was the overall shape, I wanted Tomi to look round and petite! I had a general idea of how I wanted Tomi to look and it was fun to see the plush being translated from digital to physical form.

Sample 1 🐯

There was misunderstandings and some roadblocks along the way on what was/wasn't possible due to sizing and binding capabilities. Below are photos of the prototype process starting with the first sample:

The first sample, they embroidered my lineart for Tomi's snout. I didn't want it to look too drastic with a brown outline, so I drew on top of the photo example the manufacturer sent to show them what I was looking for (I also wanted the arms to be slightly shortened):


Sample 2 🐯

Since the manu didn't have the best materials to work with for a bowtie around Tomi, I decided to take this task on my own. There was a specific color and ribbon pattern I had in mind, and I feel like it was the safest option for me as I was already putting in so much to make sure I got these plushies right. The second sample excludes the bowtie. I loved the body shape of the second sample! This left the manufacturer to sew in the snout in the final sample.


Sample 3 🐯

Annnnd Tomi is finished!! :D

Once they sewed the white snout, Tomi was complete. Around his neck looked a little empty, but I knew that tying a ribbon around him would help this.

Once the final revisions were made on the prototype, I was finally able to approve of the sample and they mass produced it! As a courtesy, my manu added on brand tags for me. I just had to communicate where I would like them to be sewn on the doll.

Below is how it's been going!! I have been tying bows on all the Tomi's day by day. I cannot wait to share some photos that I took of Tomi... and another friend that I will post about soon (o:

Tomi tiger will be included in the upcoming shop update! I am so so excited to share him with you, so thank you for reading about my journey in creating my first plush. This project is near and dear to my heart because I love collecting plush products myself and creating my own feels so surreal. 🧡